


Forgiveness Is The Thing Assured

by TrishaCollins



Category: Wayfarer Redemption - Sara Douglass
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 08:32:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18070061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrishaCollins/pseuds/TrishaCollins
Summary: The mother finds a kinder path for her daughter, for the Prophet did not know everything.





	Forgiveness Is The Thing Assured

Faraday had benefited from a full education, her mother had counseled her on babes and their birthing far before the time of her marriage. She had doubtless avoided mentioned of the hard births, the complicated ones, the winterbourne births where she thought if she did not rise from the birthing bed fast enough then surely Axis and therefore the prophecy would be ended. 

But, ah, the Mother greeted the sweet pain at her hips with such glory. She could not hate the babe she struggled to birth, nor hate the man who had planted it in her. She just wished it would come more quickly to the world, so she could be assured Borneheld would not be inspired to fight Axis. 

Yr was in attendance, and the midwife seemed entirely unperturbed by her panting and heaving on the bed. 

“Just a few more, my lady.” The midwife murmured. “A few more pushes.” 

She rolled her eyes back in her, begging the Mother for strength, almost willing herself into the Sacred Grove with her struggles. She could almost imagine the Horned Ones dismay to see her so gravid and heaving in that most sacred of spaces. 

The last push nearly undid her, and the midwife gave a shout as she caught the babe. The babe wailed, loud enough that she was certain the entire Keep could hear it.

“A girl, plumb and hale!” The midwife crowed. 

Faraday sat up, reaching for the babe, anxious for her. 

Would he husband be as pleased with a girl as he would be with a boy? Would it turn his heart to her as she had hoped?

The midwife swathed the babe with linen, pushing her to her breasts. 

Besotted, she stared down at the little one. How could her husband not love the babe as much as she? How could he look upon this tiny face and think nothing of her. 

“I will fetch your husband.” Yr murmured. “Well done, sweet one.” The kiss to her brow barely penetrated her mind, the midwife rushing to clean her and the babe, as she sat quiet and useless, staring down at the tiny creature latched at her breath.

“Faraday?” Borneheld was standing awkwardly at the end of the bed, staring down at her and the babe with an entirely unfamiliar countenance. “I..”

She held out her hand to him, for once not resisting the thought of touching him. “Come. Come. Look at this beautiful child of ours.”

He took her hand, letting her pull him down to the bed to gaze at the child, his battle worn hands large and cumbersome as they settled on her arms. “A girl.”

“I thought to call her Marvkah, for your mother and mine.” She murmured, searching his face for approval.

A tentative smile broke out over his face. “For the mothers we lost.” With just a thumb, he traced the child’s cheek. “She will need to be strong, to lead the brothers that follow her.”

Warmth suffused her, staring at the gentleness on his face. 

“Artor keep you and welcome you, Marvkah.” Borneheld whispered. “Artor keep you safe.” 

He kissed her then, a gentle press against his mouth. Artless, but not unkind. “I thank you for this gift you have given me.” 

Mother bless the child and keep in her heart, she would present her properly later. But for now she could accept the blessing in its spirit, and know that her husband meant only kindness. 

“The Axe Men come, Faraday. Perhaps a day from now they will be here.” His hands stroked gently over her arms, gliding around her and the babe both with his touch. 

“Please do not fight him.” She whispered, pleading with him, searching his face.

“Do you love him?” Borneheld asked in return, staring down at her. 

“A girl might love him.” She responded. “I am a wife and a mother both.”

His face relaxed, a tension she had not seen unraveling. “It seems like all in my life I have fought him like a shadow.”

“There is nothing to fight. You are you, and Axis himself. You are as dissimilar as night and day.” She kept her voice gentle, shifting the baby and pressing her into Borneheld’s arms, guiding them into the proper position. “It is you who will keep us safe.”

Borneheld looked down at the baby, brushing a soft red curl from her face. “She has the look of my mother. It warms me to see it. It warms me to have this, no ice or ghostmen can steal that from my bones.” His hand lifted, cupping her face. “With you at my side, I fear nothing.”

She smiled, closing her eyes and let herself lean into his hand. 

Forgiveness, the Sentinels had said. Forgiveness must be given and taken. Between Axis and his brother, surely? It must be. Her long ago dreams had told her she need only be patient. 

Mother grant me the strength and warmth to reach him. She prayed it as fiercely as she might, begging the fates to be kind.

She wanted only this small thing for herself, this small, gentle kindness.


End file.
